Monitoring system for driving violations

The present application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 18/599,371, now allowed, having a filing date of Mar. 8, 2023, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/140,730, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,978,341, having a filing date of Jan. 4, 2021.

The present disclosure is directed to a system which detects the violation of laws related to aggressive driving.

The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.

Aggressive driving behavior has become a troubling phenomenon during the past two decades. According to a report of the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety, 56% of traffic accidents occur due to aggressive driving behavior. (See “Aggressive driving: Research update”. 2009. Technical report, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, Washington D.C., U.S.A., incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). Moreover, traffic accidents cost billions of dollars each year for people, governments and companies. Aggressive driving violations are considered to be of the major causes of fatal accidents. A variety of laws and regulations have been written to address aggressive driving. However, police enforcement of the current legislations has been inadequate in curtailing aggressive driving. According to reports and statistics by the US Department of Justice, the common cause of the persistence of the aggressive driving problem is lack of enforcement. The lack of enforcement is attributed to the fact that aggressive driving violations are hard for law enforcement personnel to detect and to issue citations for violators. For example, tailgating is one of the most dangerous aggressive driving behaviors as it intimidates and threatens the driver in the leading vehicle and may lead to erratic and violent responses in retaliation. One dangerous scenario is that the driver in the leading vehicle may intentionally slow down and not let the following vehicle pass. This action is also considered to be an aggressive driving violation. The presence of law enforcement in the vicinity may act as a deterrent to such aggressive driving, yet police coverage is not high enough to detect and ticket every violation.

Accordingly, it is one object of the present disclosure to provide methods and systems for detecting and citing aggressive driving violations on highways and freeways. In a first aspect, a static system focuses on detecting speeding, tailgating, and lane blocking violations. In a second aspect, a mobile system utilizes an extended floating car technique to detect speeding, tailgating, lane blocking, and improper passing.

In an exemplary embodiment, a system for detecting aggressive driving violations of vehicles travelling on a roadway is described. The system comprises a plurality of presence sensors spaced apart from one another, at least three digital cameras, a communication unit, a GPS receiver, a computer monitoring unit, wherein the monitoring unit is configured to receive signals from the presence sensors and determine relative speeds and time gaps between the vehicles from the signals, detect whether either a first vehicle or a second vehicle is driving aggressively, instruct at least one of the digital cameras to photograph a license plate of the first or second vehicle if either the first or the second vehicle is driving aggressively, and instruct the communication unit to transmit a violation report to a transit authority.

In another exemplary embodiment, a system is a roadway detection system placed on a roadway median, comprising cameras spaced apart on the roadway median, presence sensors spaced apart on the roadway median and configured to generate timestamps when detecting passing vehicles, a communication unit, computer processing circuitry configured to, determine aggressive driving violations by passing vehicles in real-time by comparing the timestamps, instruct the cameras to take photos of front and/or rear license plates of offending vehicles, and instruct the communication unit to transmit the photos to a transit authority regarding the aggressive driving violations, wherein the aggressive driving violations include speeding, lane blocking, improper passing and tailgating.

In another exemplary embodiment, a system is described for detecting aggressive driving violations of vehicles travelling on a roadway, comprising a mobile unit including a plurality of presence sensors, at least three digital cameras, a communication unit and a monitoring unit, wherein the monitoring unit includes a computer, a digital storage unit and a GPS module, and is operatively connected to a vehicle CAN unit. The monitoring unit is configured to receive signals from the presence sensors and the digital cameras, determine relative speeds of and distances between vehicles passing the mobile unit from the signals, detect whether either the first vehicle or the second vehicle is driving aggressively, instruct a digital camera to photograph either the first and the second vehicle when the first or the second vehicle is driving aggressively, and instruct the communication unit to transmit a violation report to a transit authority identifying an aggressive driving violation and including the photograph of the vehicle which is driving aggressively.

The foregoing general description of the illustrative embodiments and the following detailed description thereof are merely exemplary aspects of the teachings of this disclosure, and are not restrictive.

In the drawings, like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views. Further, as used herein, the words “a,” “an” and the like generally carry a meaning of “one or more,” unless stated otherwise. The drawings are generally drawn to scale unless specified otherwise or illustrating schematic structures or flowcharts.

Furthermore, the terms “approximately,” “approximate,” “about,” and similar terms generally refer to ranges that include the identified value within a margin of 20%, 10%, or preferably 5%, and any values therebetween.

The term “headway” is defined as the average interval of time between vehicles moving in the same direction on the same route.

Aspects of this disclosure are directed to systems for detecting aggressive driving violations in real-time.

1. Individual speeds for the vehicles passing an array of roadside sensors. 2. Time stamps for the vehicles passing an array of roadside sensors. 3. The time gap between any two successive vehicles. 4. Images of vehicles making the violations. In one aspect, a static system for detecting aggressive driving violations is described. The system is designed to detect speeding, tailgating and lane blockage. The violations are detected by roadside monitoring and the violators are then cited. In order to detect the violations, the following data must be collected:

Thus, the system includes computing and processing means to control data collection of data, search the images for identifying information, detect violations, prepare violation reports and communicate the violations to a transit authority.

1 FIG. 1 1 1 3 3 2 4 5 a b c a b As depicted in, the system includes the following components for data collection and processing. Presence sensors (), (), (), which may be ultrasonic, radar, microwave, lidar, or other viable means of detection, digital cameras () and (), a computer processing unit (), digital storage media () and a communication modem ().

2 3 5 In an aspect, the static system may be mounted on a support so that the presence sensors and cameras have defined positions and orientations. The electronics, such as the computer processing unit (), digital storage media () and a communication modem (), may be embedded in the support for stability and protection from theft and the environment. In this aspect, human error in installation is minimized. The support may have wheels, so it can be towed to an installation site or may alternatively be carried by a trailer. The support may be constructed of steel, stainless steel, heavy-duty rubber, ceramic or other structural support materials. The support is designed to be mounted on the median of the highway and has leveling arms to be oriented level to the ground.

1 1 2 2 The support may have a length L and a width W. In a non-limiting example, the width may be one meter. The length may be divided into sub-lengths, L/N, where N is the number of sub-lengths, for convenience in transporting the static system. The sub-lengths may be marked and fitted together by clamps or the like. In a non-limiting example, the length L is 10 meters and the number of sub-lengths is 5, so that each sub-length is 2 meters long. Each presence sensor may be mounted on a stand fitted into the support. The stand may have a mounting bracket which is placed at a height Hfrom the support. The mounting bracket is configured to hold the presence sensor at an orientation parallel to the width of the support. The mounting bracket may be adjustable in height. In a non-limiting example, the height Hmay be selected from the range of 0.5 to 1.5 meters. The mounting bracket may further be configured for adjusting the orientation of the presence sensor. Each camera may be mounted on a camera stand fitted into the support. The camera stand may have a mounting bracket which is placed at a height Hfrom the support. The mounting bracket is configured to hold the camera at an orientation parallel to the width of the support. The mounting bracket may be adjustable in height. In a non-limiting example, the height Hmay be selected from the range of 0.5 to 2 meters. The mounting bracket may further be configured for adjusting the orientation of the camera.

The presence sensors are mounted on the median of the highway and hence, the primary focus of the system is on detecting speeding, tailgating and lane blocking violations in the left lane of the highway. The presence sensors are range-finding sensors and may be ultrasonic based, laser-based, microwave, frequency modulated continuous wave or infrared-based, but must have a high rate of distance scanning update capability and a detection range which covers at least one lane width. In a non-limiting example, the presence sensor may be an RTMS G4 radar-based sensor designed to be mounted on poles on the sides of a roadway for the detection and measurement of traffic and is available from International Road Dynamics Inc., 702-43rd Street East, Saskatoon, SK., Canada.

1 2 FIGS.and 1. First scenario: vehicle (B) is following too closely while trying to pass vehicle (A), while the driver of vehicle (A) is driving at the speed limit or even slightly above the speed limit. In this situation, the driver of vehicle (B) is considered to be in violation and is intimidating the driver of vehicle (A) by tailgating. 2. Second scenario: the driver of vehicle (B) wants to pass, while vehicle (A) is driving slower than the speed limit and is intentionally blocking the left lane. In this situation, the driver of vehicle (A) is in violation and is cited for lane blocking. If vehicle (B) was tailgating, vehicle (B) is also in violation and is cited for tailgating. 3. The third scenario is similar to the second scenario but with an exception, which is that the following vehicle (B) is not tailgating vehicle (A); therefore vehicle (A) is cited for lane blocking. Tailgating is defined as the situation where a vehicle is observed following another vehicle closely with very low time headway. As depicted in, in tailgating cases, three scenarios may occur:

1 3 FIGS.- 1 1 2 1 3 1 4 1 5 1 6 1 1 2 1 3 4 1 5 6 1 a a b b c c a b c. Referring to, at time t, vehicle (A) passes sensor. At time tvehicle (B) passes sensor. At time t, vehicle (A) passes sensor. At time t, vehicle (B) passes sensor. At time t, vehicle (A) passes sensor. At time t, vehicle (B) passes sensor. The time gap between vehicle (A) and vehicle (B) is t−tat sensor, is t−tat sensorand is t−tat sensor

1 3 1 b If the time gap between two successive vehicles is less than a minimum time gap (t), then based on the passing times for both vehicles at the successive sensor (), the time gap is assessed again. If the time headway is unsafe or below the minimum time gap, tailgating is indicated. As a result, the speed of the lead vehicle (A) is estimated by X1/(t−t), and compared with the speed limit for the highway.

The minimum time gap (t) depends on the relative difference in speeds of vehicles (A) and (B). If the velocity of vehicle (B) is greater than the velocity of vehicle (A) by 5 mph (8 kph), and vehicle (B) is less than two car lengths behind vehicle (A), then vehicle (B) will impact the bumper of vehicle (A) in about two seconds, unless vehicle (B) brakes or vehicle (A) speeds up. An average car length is about 15 ft. or about 5 meters. In a non-limiting example, the minimum time gap is 0.45 seconds to 1 second or is in accordance with a value legislated by the relevant lawmaking body.

1 3 c a If the speed of vehicle (A) is within the posted speed limit (+5 mph, for example), then scenario 1 is applied and vehicle (B) is considered to be tailgating. By the time vehicle (B) passes sensor, camerais activated and a picture is taken of the rear plate of vehicle (B) and sent to a transit authority for citation.

1 3 3 c a b If the speed of vehicle (A) is below the speed limit, then scenario 2 is applied and both vehicles are in violation: A for lane blocking and B for tailgating. As each vehicle passes sensor, camerais activated to take a picture of vehicle (B) and camerais activated to take a picture of vehicle (A). Both pictures are sent to a transit authority for citation.

1 1 5 3 b c b If the time gap between the vehicles upon passing sensoris not less than the time gap limit, then, if the speed of vehicle (A) is at the speed limit, there are no violations. However, if the speed of vehicle (A) is significantly below the speed limit, then scenario 3 applies and vehicle (A) is in violation for lane blocking. Sensorrecords the time tand cameratakes a picture of vehicle (A).

4 FIG. 1 1 a b In, if the time gap detected at sensoris above the limit, but when detected at the successive sensor, it was found to be less than the minimum time gap, then scenario 1 applies and vehicle (B) is in violation regardless of the speed of vehicle (A). The reason is that vehicle (B) is accelerating in a short distance in a way that is intimidating for driver of vehicle (A).

500 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 4 5 5 8 FIGS.- 5 6 7 8 FIGS.,,and In a second aspect, a mobile system for detecting aggressive driving violations is described. The mobile systemis mounted/concealed on a monitoring vehicle (X) (unmarked police vehicle, for example) as illustrated in. The system is comprised of five presence sensors (RF), (RB), (LF), (LB) and (BK), three camera units (RC), (LC), and (BC), a computer () with data acquisition channels and data storage unit, global positioning (GPS) receiver (), and a communication modem (). The presence sensors are range-finding sensor and may be ultrasonic based, laser based, microwave, frequency modulated continuous wave or infrared based, but must have a high rate of distance scanning update capability and a detection range covers at least one lane width. The presence sensors are mounted and concealed on vehicle (X) as illustrated in. In a non-limiting example, the presence sensors may be high resolution TEF810X RFCMOS 77 GHz radar transceivers designed to monitor the environment around a vehicle and available from NXP Semiconductors Netherlands B.V., High Tech Campus 60, 5656 AG Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

5 FIG. 5 6 FIGS.and 5 FIG. 6 FIG. 2 2 2 620 The three digital camera units are mounted on vehicle (X) as shown in. Two of the camera units contain front and back cameras (RC andLC) to cover the right and left sides of the vehicle as shown in. Camera unitBC has only one camera mounted on the back of the vehicle. The cameras function to capture images of the plate numbers of violating vehicles. The cameras may be similar to the types of cameras already mounted on vehicles for back-up systems. However, the cameras of the present disclosure are directed as shown in.illustrates the right side of vehicle (X) showing the camera and presence sensor positions. The interrogation fields are indicated by arrows. The length and width of the vehicle are indicated by the double-headed arrows.

7 FIG. 720 illustrates the scenario where a vehicle is passing on either side of vehicle (X). The detection zoneson either side of vehicle (X) are depicted. In this situation, if either vehicle passes vehicle (X), then that vehicle is speeding and is cited.

3 4 3 5 11 FIG.A The presence sensors and cameras are connected and controlled by the computer unit () through the data acquisition channels mounted in the monitoring vehicle. Also, a GPS receiver () is included to determine the precise location and speed data of the monitoring vehicle. The speed of the monitoring vehicle will also be acquired from the vehicle data bus by connecting the computer unit () to the vehicle CAN network. Finally, there is a wireless communication modem () to upload violations incidents regularly to a transit authority for archival and citation processing as shown in.

1. Individual speeds for the vehicles passing sensors on the monitoring vehicle. 2. Time stamps for the vehicles passing each sensor on the monitoring vehicle. 3. The time gap between any two successive vehicles. 4. Images of vehicles making the violations. 5. CAN data from the monitoring vehicle's CAN unit, which includes the speed of the monitoring vehicle. In order to detect the violations, the following data must be collected:

Further, the system includes computing and processing means to control the collection of data, search the images for identifying information, detect violations, prepare violation reports and communicate the violations to a transit authority.

1. Speeding and tailgating 2. Street racing 3. Improper passing (right hand takeover)Detecting Speeding and Tailgating The primary traffic violations the current system is designed to detect are as follows:

8 FIG. 3 4 5 1 822 1 822 1 824 2 X As mentioned above, tailgating is defined as a vehicle following another vehicle closely with very low detected time gap between the vehicles (e.g., less than 1 sec or less than a legislated minimum time gap). In tailgating cases, several scenarios may be occurring. The first scenario is that vehicle (B) as illustrated inis closely following vehicle (A). While passing the mobile detection vehicle (X), the computing unit () must update speed data for vehicle (X) (V) from the GPS receiver () and from the vehicle CAN data network (). As vehicle (A) approaches the left rear sensorLB of vehicle (X), it enters the detection zone. The presence sensorLB registers the time of entry to zoneas a first timestamp (t). Similarly, as vehicle (A) approaches the left front sensor of vehicle (X), it enters detection zoneand a second time stamp (t) is registered.

9 FIG. 10 FIG. 9 b FIG. 9 c FIG. a h 10 1 2 3 1 1 2 (-) andillustrate the different time points utilized in detecting a speeding or a tailgating violation.illustrates the time stamps from the sensors on a detection time profile. In, as the leading vehicle (A) passes vehicle (X), the sensorLB (located on the rear left of the monitoring vehicle (X)) detects the presence of vehicle (A), cameraLC takes a shot of the front plate of vehicle (A) and the computing system () records the event as (t). As vehicle (A) passes sensorLF (located on the front left), the time is recorded as tas shown in. Hence, at this point the speed of vehicle (A) is expressed as following:

5 The velocity of vehicle (A) is compared to the speed limit. If the velocity of vehicle (A) is greater than the speed limit, a speeding violation is communicated to a transit authority through a communication modem ().

9 d FIG. 9 e FIG. 1 3 1 4 gap1 Tailgating is checked as follows. As shown in, as vehicle (A) completely clears the range of sensorLB, the time is recorded (t). In, the following vehicle (B) passes through sensorLB and another time stamp is recorded (t), then the first time gap between the two vehicles tis calculated as follows:

The gap is then compared to a minimum gap between vehicles:

9 f FIG. 9 g FIG. 1 5 1 6 gap2 Referring to, as vehicle (A) completely clears the range of sensorLF, the time is recorded (t). Referring to, as the following vehicle (B) passes through sensorLF another time stamp is recorded (t), and the second time gap between the two vehicles tis calculated as follows:

It has been established that the status of vehicle (B) is that it has made a tailgating violation. Additionally, it must be determined whether vehicle (B) is speeding by the following equation:

Thus, vehicle (B) is also cited with a speeding violation when its speed is greater than the speed limit as determined by equation (7).

9 h FIG. 2 As shown in, as vehicle (B) clears the detection zones of vehicle X by a reasonable distance (a meter, for example), the camera mounted on the left side (LC) will take a shot of the back plates of vehicle (B) for proper citing and ticketing.

2 Finally, if any vehicle approaches vehicle (X) too closely from the rear and stays near it for a few seconds, k, where k equals 1 to 10 seconds, tailgating of vehicle (X) is determined and the back cameraBC will take a shot for it for citation.

Detecting Street Racing

In the previous example, if both (A) and (B) are exceeding the speed limit significantly, and (B) is tailgating (A), then a street racing violation may be determined for both vehicles. The amount of exceeding the speed limit may be determined by the computer monitor by comparing the relative speeds of the vehicles on the roadway and determining an average speed, determining an unsafe speed for the conditions of the roadway. The amount of exceeding the speed limit may range from 10 to 50 mph.

7 FIG. As shown in, if vehicle (A) and B are not following each other, but vehicle (A) is passing vehicle (X) on the left side, and vehicle (B) is passing vehicle (X) on the right side, almost simultaneously and exceeding the speed limit, then a street racing violation may be determined for both vehicles. In this case, vehicle (B) will have another violation, which is improper passing.

Detecting Improper Passing

All vehicles passing vehicle (X) from the right side will be cited for improper passing when vehicle (X) is travelling at the speed limit.

11 FIG.B 1100 1103 1132 1134 1136 1105 1144 1160 1142 illustrates the computing environmentof the aspects. Computer systemincludes data acquisition module, memoryand CPU. The computer system includes a wireless communication modulefor transmitting a violations report to a transit authority. The communication module may also receive data signals from the presence sensors and the cameras if wireless presence sensors and cameras are used. The communication module may further receive commands and instructions from a remote monitoring center. The communications module is operatively connected to a GPS moduleto convey GPS data to the CPU. The communication module includes a wireless communication modem (represented by antenna symbol) to upload violation incidents regularly to a transit authority for archival and citation processing. A reporting modulemay be used by the CPU to collect and prepare a violations report, which may be uploaded at intervals, such as hourly or daily.

1103 1176 1103 1160 1105 1186 1176 1144 1103 1175 1103 1136 1134 1140 1138 1180 1182 1186 1166 1136 1136 1105 1188 1186 The presence sensors and cameras are connected and controlled by the computer unitthrough the data acquisition channels mounted in the monitoring vehicle (X) or the roadway structure. The presence sensors and cameras may be directly connected to busto convey data to the computeror may be wireless connected to the computer through the modemof the communication module. In the second aspect, CAN data may be directly input to the computer through I/O portor alternatively directly connected to bus. GPS receiveris included to determine the precise location and speed data of the monitoring vehicle (X) of the second aspect and is optional in the first aspect. The speed of the monitoring vehicle (X) is also acquired from the vehicle data bus by connecting the computer unitto the vehicle CAN network in the second aspect. Communication bus lineprovides a communication pathway to connect the components of computer system. CPUis configured to instruct its processor to access program instructions stored in memoryto store timestamps from the presence sensors and images from cameras in memory, subtract the time stamps, calculate the velocity of each approaching or passing vehicle from the timestamps, actuate the cameras to take images of the license plates of violating vehicles, compare, in comparison module, the velocity of a vehicle to a designated speed limit of the roadway stored in database, access the discrete features from database, memoryor alternatively from inputs received at I/O portor communication module. The CPUis further configured to determine whether a violation event has occurred and to instruct the reporting module to create a violations report. The CPUis further configured to instruct the communications moduleto transmit the violations report to a transit authority. The remote monitoring center may communicate controls to the CPU, such as to start detecting, to shut down, to operate during specified hours of the day, and such like. Alternatively, these instructions may be entered through keyboardor to I/O port. I/O port may be configured to accept remote instructions from a handheld unit or such like.

1 11 FIGS.-B 1 5 FIG., 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 2 2 1 5 1105 4 1144 2 1103 a b c a b The first embodiment is illustrated with respect to. The first embodiment describes a system for detecting aggressive driving violations of vehicles travelling on a roadway, comprising a plurality of presence sensors (,,,LB,RB,BK,LF,RF,) spaced apart from one another, at least three digital cameras (,,LC,RC,BK), a communication unit (,), a GPS receiver (,), a computer monitoring unit (,), wherein the monitoring unit is configured to receive signals from the presence sensors and determine relative speeds and time gaps between the vehicles from the signals, detect whether either a first vehicle or a second vehicle is driving aggressively, instruct at least one of the digital cameras to photograph a license plate of the first or second vehicle if either the first or the second vehicle is driving aggressively, and instruct the communication unit to transmit a violation report to a transit authority.

1 4 FIG.- The presence sensors and the digital cameras may be mounted at spaced locations on a roadway median as shown in.

In a static system, the violation is one of tailgating, speeding and lane blocking.

The static system includes a tailgating scenario where a second vehicle is following the first vehicle, where there are three linearly spaced presence sensors, wherein the GPS receiver transmits a speed limit of the roadway to the computer monitoring unit, and wherein the computer monitoring unit determines a minimum time gap based on the speed limit, compares the time gaps between the first vehicle (A) and the second vehicle (B) at each of the three linearly spaced presence sensors to the minimum time gap, determines a tailgating violation if at least two of the time gaps are less than the minimum time gap, and instructs the communication unit to transmit a tailgating violation report to the transit authority.

1 4 11 FIGS.-andB 3 4 FIG.- 1103 A static system shown inincludes speeding and lane blocking scenarios () wherein the second vehicle is following the first vehicle, and wherein there are at least two presence sensors spaced apart linearly by a distance, d. The GPS receiver transmits a speed limit of the roadway to the computer monitoring unitwhich determines a time difference by subtracting the time at which the first vehicle passes a second presence sensor from the time at which the first vehicle passes a first presence sensor, calculates the velocity of the first vehicle by dividing the distance, d, by the time difference, compares the velocity of the first vehicle to a roadway speed limit, and determines a speeding violation for the first vehicle if the velocity is greater than the roadway speed limit, determines there is no speeding violation for the first vehicle if the velocity equals the speed limit of the roadway, and determines a lane blocking violation if the velocity is less than the speed limit of the roadway.

5 FIG. 4 1144 X Alternatively, a dynamic system includes wherein the presence sensors and the digital cameras are mounted at spaced locations on a monitoring vehicle travelling on the roadway as shown in, a GPS module (,) operatively connected to the computer monitoring unit, wherein the GPS module is configured to determine estimated velocities of the vehicles on the roadway and the speed limit of the roadway and a CAN data unit of the vehicle operatively connected to the computer monitoring unit. The computer monitoring unit is configured to receive an estimated velocity of the monitoring vehicle from the GPS module, receive an estimated velocity of the monitoring vehicle from the CAN data unit, and correlate the estimated velocities to determine a corrected velocity, V, of the monitoring vehicle (X).

822 824 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 8 FIG. 5 FIG. The monitoring vehicle has a length axis (L) and a width axis (W), a left front side, a left rear side, a right front side, a right rear side, a front bumper and a rear bumper, wherein each presence sensor is configured to interrogate the roadway with an electromagnetic beam (see,,), receive a return beam and generate a timestamp, wherein a first presence sensor (LB) is mounted on the left rear bumper of the monitoring vehicle and configured to direct the beam away from the monitoring vehicle along the width axis, wherein a second presence sensor (LF) is located on the left front bumper of the monitoring vehicle and configured to direct the beam away from the monitoring vehicle along the width axis, wherein a third presence sensor (RB) is mounted on the right rear bumper of the monitoring vehicle and configured to direct the beam away from the monitoring vehicle along the width axis, wherein a fourth presence sensorRF) is located on the right front bumper of the monitoring vehicle and configured to direct the beam away from the monitoring vehicle along the width axis, wherein a fifth presence sensorBK) is located on the rear bumper and configured to direct the beam away from the monitoring vehicle along the length axis, wherein each digital camera has a field of view determined by the orientation of the camera, wherein a first digital camera (LC) is located on the left front side of the monitoring vehicle and has a first field of view directed at a 45 degree angle with the width axis and away from the monitoring vehicle as shown in, wherein a second digital camera (RC) is located on the right front side of the monitoring vehicle and has a second field of view directed at a 45 degree angle with the width axis and away from the monitoring vehicle, and wherein a third digital camera (BC) is located on the rear bumper of the monitoring vehicle has a first field of view directed along the length axis away from the monitoring vehicle.

5 11 FIGS.-B In the dynamic system shown in, the violation may be one of speeding, tailgating, street racing and improper passing.

1 2 A The computer monitoring unit is further configured to receive a first timestamp, t, as the first vehicle passes the first presence detector, instruct the first camera to take an image of the front bumper of the first vehicle, receive a second timestamp, t, as the first vehicle passes the second presence detector, determine the velocity, V, of the first vehicle based on

A1 where d equals a distance between the first presence sensor and the second presence sensor, receive the speed limit of the roadway from the GPS module, compare the velocity, V, of the first vehicle to the speed limit, determine there is no speeding violation for the first vehicle if the velocity is equal to or is less than the speed limit of the roadway, determine a speeding violation for the first vehicle if the velocity is greater than the roadway speed limit, and prepare a first violation report including the velocity and image of the front bumper of the first vehicle.

3 4 A The computer monitoring unit is further configured to receive a third timestamp, t, as the second vehicle passes the first presence detector, instruct the first camera to take an image of the front bumper of the second vehicle, receive a fourth timestamp, t, as the second vehicle passes the second presence detector, determine the velocity, V, of the second vehicle based on

A2 compare the velocity, V, of the second vehicle to the speed limit, determine there is no speeding violation for the second vehicle if the velocity is equal to or is less than the speed limit of the roadway, determine a speeding violation for the second vehicle if the velocity is greater than the roadway speed limit, calculate a first time gap between the first and second vehicle at the first presence sensor by subtracting the third timestamp from the first timestamp, calculate a second time gap between the first and second vehicle at the second presence sensor by subtracting the fourth timestamp from the second timestamp, determine the second vehicle is tailgating the first vehicle if both the first and second time gaps are less than the minimum time gap, determine there is no tailgating violation for the second vehicle if the both the first and second time gaps are not less than the minimum time gap, and prepare a second violation report including the velocity and image of the front bumper of the second vehicle when the second vehicle is either speeding or tailgating.

5 5 6 5 6 6 5 6 5 X In the dynamic system, the computer monitoring unit is further configured to receive a fifth timestamp, t, when the first vehicle is within the field of view of the fifth presence sensor and record the velocity, V, received from the GPS unit of the monitoring vehicle, receive a sixth timestamp, t, at a time t+k seconds, where k equals 1 to 10 seconds and record the velocity, V, of the first vehicle, determine there is a tailgating violation by the first vehicle if Vis greater than V, determine there is a tailgating violation and a speeding violation if Vand Vare both greater than V, instruct the third camera to take an image of the front bumper of the first vehicle, prepare a second violation report including the velocity and image of the front bumper of the first vehicle when the first vehicle is either speeding or tailgating.

In the dynamic system, the computer monitoring unit is further configured to determine a street racing violation if any one of the following occur the second vehicle is tailgating the first vehicle and the velocities of both the first and the second vehicle exceed the speed limit by a threshold amount, wherein the threshold amount is ten to fifty miles per hour, and the first vehicle passes the monitoring vehicle on the left and the second vehicle simultaneously passes the monitoring vehicle on the right and the velocities of both the first and the second vehicle exceed the speed limit. The computer monitoring unit is further configured to determine an improper passing violation when a vehicle passes the monitoring vehicle on the right side when the monitoring vehicle is travelling at the speed limit.

1 4 11 FIGS.-, andB 1 FIG. 11 FIG. 100 3 3 1 1 1 3 1134 5 1105 4 1103 a b a b c The second embodiment is illustrated with respect to. The second embodiment describes a roadway detection systemplaced on a roadway median, comprising cameras (,,) spaced apart on the roadway median, presence sensors (,,) spaced apart on the roadway median and configured to generate timestamps when detecting passing vehicles, digital storage media (,) a communication unit (,), computer processing circuitry (,,) configured to determine aggressive driving violations by passing vehicles (A, B) in real-time by comparing the timestamps, instruct the cameras to take photos of front and/or rear license plates of offending vehicles, and instruct the communication unit to transmit the photos to a transit authority regarding the aggressive driving violations, wherein the aggressive driving violations include speeding, lane blocking, improper passing and tailgating.

5 11 FIGS.-B 5 FIG. 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1105 1100 1103 1134 1138 1144 1142 The third embodiment is illustrated with respect to. The third embodiment describes a system for detecting aggressive driving violations of vehicles travelling on a roadway, comprising a mobile unit (X) including a plurality of presence sensors (LB,RB,BK,LF,RF,), at least three digital cameras (LC,RC,BK), a communication unit () and a monitoring unit (), wherein the monitoring unit includes a computer (), a digital storage unit (,) and a GPS module (), and is operatively connected to a vehicle CAN unit. The monitoring unit is configured to receive signals from the presence sensors and the digital cameras, determine relative speeds of and distances between vehicles passing the mobile unit from the signals, detect whether either the first vehicle or the second vehicle is driving aggressively, instruct a digital camera to photograph either the first and the second vehicle when the first or the second vehicle is driving aggressively, and instruct the communication unit to transmit a violation report (as prepared in reporting module) to a transit authority identifying an aggressive driving violation and including the photograph of the vehicle which is driving aggressively.

X The system further includes wherein the GPS module is configured to determine estimated velocities of vehicles on the roadway and the speed limit of the roadway, wherein the computer monitoring unit is configured to receive an estimated velocity of the monitoring vehicle from the GPS module, receive an estimated velocity of the monitoring vehicle from the CAN data unit, and correlate the estimated velocities to determine a corrected velocity, V, of the monitoring vehicle.

1 2 A1 Driving aggressively is one of speeding, tailgating, street racing and improper passing. The monitoring vehicle has a length axis, L, and a width axis, W, a left front side, a left rear side, a right front side, a right rear side, a front bumper and a rear bumper, wherein each presence sensor is configured to interrogate the roadway with an electromagnetic beam, receive a return beam and generate a timestamp, wherein the computer monitoring unit is further configured to receive a first timestamp, t, as a first vehicle passes a first presence sensor located on the left rear bumper of the monitoring vehicle, instruct the first camera located on the left front side of the monitoring vehicle to take an image of a front license plate of the first vehicle, receive a second timestamp, t, as the first vehicle passes a second presence sensor, determine a velocity, V, of the first vehicle based on:

A1 where d equals a distance between the first presence sensor and the second presence sensor, receive the speed limit of the roadway from the GPS module, compare the velocity, V, of the first vehicle to the speed limit, determine there is no speeding violation for the first vehicle if the velocity is equal to or is less than the speed limit of the roadway, determine a speeding violation for the first vehicle if the velocity is greater than the speed limit of the roadway, and prepare a first violation report including the velocity and image of the front bumper of the first vehicle.

3 4 A The computer monitoring unit is further configured to receive a third timestamp, t, as a second vehicle passes the first presence detector, instruct the first camera to take an image of the front license plate of the second vehicle, receive a fourth timestamp, t, as the second vehicle passes the second presence detector, determine the velocity, V, of the second vehicle based on

A2 compare the velocity, V, of the second vehicle to the speed limit, determine there is no speeding violation for the second vehicle if the velocity is equal to or is less than the speed limit of the roadway, determine a speeding violation for the second vehicle if the velocity is greater than the roadway speed limit, calculate a first time gap between the first and second vehicle at the first presence sensor by subtracting the third timestamp from the first timestamp, calculate a second time gap between the first and second vehicle at the second presence sensor by subtracting the fourth timestamp from the second timestamp, determine the second vehicle is tailgating the first vehicle if both the first and second time gaps are less than the minimum time gap, determine there is no tailgating violation for the second vehicle if the both the first and second time gaps are not less than the minimum time gap, prepare a second violation report including the velocity and image of the front bumper of the second vehicle when the second vehicle is either speeding or tailgating.

5 5 6 5 6 6 5 6 5 X The computer monitoring unit is further configured to receive a fifth timestamp, t, when the first vehicle is within the field of view of the fifth presence sensor and record the velocity, V, received from the GPS unit of the monitoring vehicle, receive a sixth timestamp, t, at a time t+k seconds, where k equals 1 to 10 seconds and record the velocity, V, of the first vehicle, determine there is a tailgating violation by the first vehicle if Vis greater than V, determine there is a tail-gaiting and a speeding violation if Vand Vare both greater than V, determine an improper passing violation when a vehicle passes the monitoring vehicle on the right side when the monitoring vehicle is travelling at the speed limit, determine a street racing violation if any one of the following occur the second vehicle is tailgating the first vehicle and the velocities of both the first and the second vehicle exceed the speed limit by a threshold amount, wherein the threshold amount is ten to fifty miles per hour, and the first vehicle passes the monitoring vehicle on the left and the second vehicle simultaneously passes the monitoring vehicle on the right and the velocities of both the first and the second vehicle exceed the speed limit, and prepare a second violation report including the velocities and images of the front or rear bumpers of any vehicle which is speeding, tailgating, street racing or improperly passing.

11 FIG. 12 FIG. 12 FIG. 11 FIG. 1200 1103 1201 1202 1204 Next, further details of the hardware description of the computing environment ofaccording to exemplary embodiments is described with reference to. In, a controlleris described is representative of the systemofin which the controller is a computing device which includes a CPUwhich performs the processes described above/below. The process data and instructions may be stored in memory. These processes and instructions may also be stored on a storage medium disksuch as a hard drive (HDD) or portable storage medium or may be stored remotely.

Further, the claimed advancements are not limited by the form of the computer-readable media on which the instructions of the inventive process are stored. For example, the instructions may be stored on CDs, DVDs, in FLASH memory, RAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, hard disk or any other information processing device with which the computing device communicates, such as a server or computer.

1201 1203 Further, the claimed advancements may be provided as a utility application, background daemon, or component of an operating system, or combination thereof, executing in conjunction with CPU,and an operating system such as Microsoft Windows 7, UNIX, Solaris, LINUX, Apple MAC-OS and other systems known to those skilled in the art.

1201 1203 1201 1203 1201 1203 The hardware elements in order to achieve the computing device may be realized by various circuitry elements, known to those skilled in the art. For example, CPUor CPUmay be a Xenon or Core processor from Intel of America or an Opteron processor from AMD of America, or may be other processor types that would be recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art. Alternatively, the CPU,may be implemented on an FPGA, ASIC, PLD or using discrete logic circuits, as one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize. Further, CPU,may be implemented as multiple processors cooperatively working in parallel to perform the instructions of the inventive processes described above.

12 FIG. 1206 1260 1260 1260 The computing device inalso includes a network controller, such as an Intel Ethernet PRO network interface card from Intel Corporation of America, for interfacing with network. As can be appreciated, the networkcan be a public network, such as the Internet, or a private network such as an LAN or WAN network, or any combination thereof and can also include PSTN or ISDN sub-networks. The networkcan also be wired, such as an Ethernet network, or can be wireless such as a cellular network including EDGE, 3G and 4G wireless cellular systems. The wireless network can also be WiFi, Bluetooth, or any other wireless form of communication that is known.

1208 1210 1212 1214 1216 1210 1218 The computing device further includes a display controller, such as a NVIDIA GeForce GTX or Quadro graphics adaptor from NVIDIA Corporation of America for interfacing with display, such as a Hewlett Packard HPL2445w LCD monitor. A general purpose I/O interfaceinterfaces with a keyboard and/or mouseas well as a touch screen panelon or separate from display. General purpose I/O interface also connects to a variety of peripheralsincluding printers and scanners, such as an OfficeJet or DeskJet from Hewlett Packard.

1220 1222 A sound controlleris also provided in the computing device such as Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium from Creative, to interface with speakers/microphonethereby providing sounds and/or music.

1224 1204 1226 1210 1214 1208 1224 1206 1220 1212 The general purpose storage controllerconnects the storage medium diskwith communication bus, which may be an ISA, EISA, VESA, PCI, or similar, for interconnecting all of the components of the computing device. A description of the general features and functionality of the display, keyboard and/or mouse, as well as the display controller, storage controller, network controller, sound controller, and general purpose I/O interfaceis omitted herein for brevity as these features are known.

13 FIG. The exemplary circuit elements described in the context of the present disclosure may be replaced with other elements and structured differently than the examples provided herein. Moreover, circuitry configured to perform features described herein may be implemented in multiple circuit units (e.g., chips), or the features may be combined in circuitry on a single chipset, as shown in.

13 FIG. shows a schematic diagram of a data processing system, according to certain embodiments, for performing the functions of the exemplary embodiments. The data processing system is an example of a computer in which code or instructions implementing the processes of the illustrative embodiments may be located.

13 FIG. 1300 1325 1320 1330 1325 1325 1345 1350 1325 1320 1330 In, data processing systememploys a hub architecture including a north bridge and memory controller hub (NB/MCH)and a south bridge and input/output (I/O) controller hub (SB/ICH). The central processing unit (CPU)is connected to NB/MCH. The NB/MCHalso connects to the memoryvia a memory bus, and connects to the graphics processorvia an accelerated graphics port (AGP). The NB/MCHalso connects to the SB/ICHvia an internal bus (e.g., a unified media interface or a direct media interface). The CPU Processing unitmay contain one or more processors and even may be implemented using one or more heterogeneous processor systems.

14 FIG. 1330 1438 1440 1438 1436 1330 1432 1434 1432 1440 1330 1330 1330 1330 For example,shows one implementation of CPU. In one implementation, the instruction registerretrieves instructions from the fast memory. At least part of these instructions are fetched from the instruction registerby the control logicand interpreted according to the instruction set architecture of the CPU. Part of the instructions can also be directed to the register. In one implementation the instructions are decoded according to a hardwired method, and in another implementation the instructions are decoded according a microprogram that translates instructions into sets of CPU configuration signals that are applied sequentially over multiple clock pulses. After fetching and decoding the instructions, the instructions are executed using the arithmetic logic unit (ALU)that loads values from the registerand performs logical and mathematical operations on the loaded values according to the instructions. The results from these operations can be feedback into the register and/or stored in the fast memory. According to certain implementations, the instruction set architecture of the CPUcan use a reduced instruction set architecture, a complex instruction set architecture, a vector processor architecture, a very large instruction word architecture. Furthermore, the CPUcan be based on the Von Neuman model or the Harvard model. The CPUcan be a digital signal processor, an FPGA, an ASIC, a PLA, a PLD, or a CPLD. Further, the CPUcan be an x86 processor by Intel or by AMD; an ARM processor, a Power architecture processor by, e.g., IBM; a SPARC architecture processor by Sun Microsystems or by Oracle; or other known CPU architecture.

13 FIG. 1300 1320 1356 1364 1368 1358 1388 1362 Referring again to, the data processing systemcan include that the SB/ICHis coupled through a system bus to an I/O Bus, a read only memory (ROM), universal serial bus (USB) port, a flash binary input/output system (BIOS), and a graphics controller. PCI/PCIe devices can also be coupled to SB/ICHthrough a PCI bus.

1360 1366 The PCI devices may include, for example, Ethernet adapters, add-in cards, and PC cards for notebook computers. The Hard disk driveand CD-ROMcan use, for example, an integrated drive electronics (IDE) or serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) interface. In one implementation the I/O bus can include a super I/O (SIO) device.

1360 1366 1320 1370 1372 1378 1376 1320 Further, the hard disk drive (HDD)and optical drivecan also be coupled to the SB/ICHthrough a system bus. In one implementation, a keyboard, a mouse, a parallel port, and a serial portcan be connected to the system bus through the I/O bus. Other peripherals and devices that can be connected to the SB/ICHusing a mass storage controller such as SATA or PATA, an Ethernet port, an ISA bus, a LPC bridge, SMBus, a DMA controller, and an Audio Codec.

Moreover, the present disclosure is not limited to the specific circuit elements described herein, nor is the present disclosure limited to the specific sizing and classification of these elements. For example, the skilled artisan will appreciate that the circuitry described herein may be adapted based on changes on battery sizing and chemistry, or based on the requirements of the intended back-up load to be powered.

15 FIG. The functions and features described herein may also be executed by various distributed components of a system. For example, one or more processors may execute these system functions, wherein the processors are distributed across multiple components communicating in a network. The distributed components may include one or more client and server machines, which may share processing, as shown by, in addition to various human interface and communication devices (e.g., display monitors, smart phones, tablets, personal digital assistants (PDAs)). The network may be a private network, such as a LAN or WAN, or may be a public network, such as the Internet. Input to the system may be received via direct user input and received remotely either in real-time or as a batch process. Additionally, some implementations may be performed on modules or hardware not identical to those described. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope that may be claimed.

The above-described hardware description is a non-limiting example of corresponding structure for performing the functionality described herein.

Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present disclosure are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.